Surgical needle holders in the prior art generally have a scissor handle configuration with a pair of opposing jaws to hold the needle.
Microsurgery is an ever expanding branch of surgery for new development in brain, heart and transplant operations where very small tissues, capillaries and nerves are required to be sutured. In order to minimize patient trauma the operations must be performed within a small body incision which requires multiple angle manipulation and precise control of the microsurgical needles and sutures. Some microsurgical operations are now so complex as to require teams of microsurgeons to operate continuously on a patient for periods of 6 to 18 hours.
It has been found that the prior art needle holders are generally unsatisfactory in microsurgery where very small needles and sutures must be precisely manipulated at multiple angles for extended time periods.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a microsurgical needle holder which may tightly grab and precisely manipulate a microsurgical needle and a microsurgical suture within a very small body incision.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a microsurgical needle holder wherein the length and the weight distribution are adjustable for each microsurgeon in order to maximize his dexterity in the precise manipulation of the microsurgical needles and sutures within the body incision and in order to minimize his fatigue during extended periods of microsurgery.